By Marla Ridenour, Akron Beacon Journal –
AKRON, Ohio — These days if Jim Furyk is tempted to turn back the clock, the urge strikes when he looks at the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
Furyk, 42, has represented his country in seven consecutive competitions against the Europeans starting in 1997. To continue that streak in the late September matches at Medinah, he needs strong performances the next two weeks.
(PHOTO: Opening round leader Jim Furyk (-7) follows his tee shot on No. 9 during opening round play at the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club on Thursday, August 2, 2012, in Akron, Ohio.)
“I know exactly where I stand — I’m 14th in points,” Furyk said. “And I’ve played on the last seven teams. Eventually in my career I’m going to miss playing on those teams and I’m hoping it’s not this year.”
Actually, he’s 15th. But if he continues to play the way he did Thursday at Firestone Country Club, everything will take care of itself.
Furyk carded a 7-under 63 on the South Course to take a 2-stroke lead over England’s Lee Slattery after the first round of the $8.5 million World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
It marked his best score at Firestone dating to 1996 in the NEC World Series of Golf. His previous low was a 64 in the final round in 2009, when he tied for sixth.
Furyk’s best finish here was second in 2001, when he lost to Tiger Woods in a seven-hole playoff.
Furyk equaled his best first-round score and was a stroke shy of his low round on the PGA Tour, which he has shot five times, most recently during the final round of the 2009 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open.
Teeing off on the back nine, Furyk recorded seven birdies and an eagle, which came at the par-5 second hole, with bogeys at Nos. 7 and 12. He tied for second in the 78-man field with 25 putts.
“I hit a lot of fairways today,” Furyk said. “I gave myself a lot of good opportunities, a lot of good angles into pins, hit some crisp iron shots. Hit some close where I had three or four short birdie putts. It was nice to see some putts go in.”
It seemed like he was bashing the ball off the tee, with seven of his drives topping 300 yards. But Furyk’s 14 drives averaged 294.9 yards, 59th in the field.
“I never crack the top 150 in driving distance on tour. If I was 63rd today, I really wouldn’t worry about it,” he said, laughing. He did tie for second with 25 putts.
After birdieing his first two holes (10 and 11), he three-putted No. 12 for bogey. Furyk thought the key to his round came at 13, when he drove into the left rough but sank a 10-foot putt to save par.
“To start out with two birdies, you don’t want to turn around and bogey the next two,” he said.
On the ninth hole, he called in a rules official when his second shot landed just short of the green and he found some grass clippings behind his ball.
“I went to brush some of them away, and after doing so, my ball turned about a quarter turn back towards the tee box,” Furyk said. “I know in the past if you touched a loose impediment and your ball moves, it’s a penalty. They’ve since switched that rule. The rules official said now it’s whether or not you feel you deemed to move the ball, and I didn’t think moving those grass clippings had anything to do with it. It was just kind of dried, burned-up grass.”
Although he has totaled four top-10 finishes this year in 17 events, Furyk hasn’t been happy with his results in his last four tournaments. He missed the cut at the Greenbrier Classic and last week at the Canadian Open, and tied for 34th at the British Open and in the AT&T National.
So he flew home to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., last Saturday morning to see his wife, Tabitha, and two children. The Bridgestone starts a tough stretch with seven big events in nine weeks, including the PGA Championship next week at Kiawah.
“It felt good to sit on the back porch and relax a little bit, spend some time with the kids and Tab, and now they’re up here with me,” Furyk said. “More than anything I needed a little time to clear my head, think about why I wasn’t playing better.
“I just felt like I needed to come in here and quit concentrating on trying to be so mechanically sound and just go play some golf and try to score. It worked today. It’s been a while since I made seven birdies and an eagle in a round, so it was a lot of fun.”
As for his Ryder Cup chances, Furyk hopes to be among the top eight in the U.S. standings Aug. 12, when the automatic picks are set after the final round of the PGA. Davis Love III will announce four American captain’s picks in September.
Furyk said he has only been on the bubble two or three times, but “I was always on the inside at that time.”
“It’s such a wonderful experience and the camaraderie and the pressure that you get to play under, it’s something that I strive to do every other year,” he said.